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Wiedmer: Can these Vols go one better than 1991?

Tennessee's Robert Hubbs III, left, has SEC tournament experience, but many of his teammates don't. The Vols play their first game at this year's tournament in Nashville at 1 this afternoon, against Georgia.
Tennessee's Robert Hubbs III, left, has SEC tournament experience, but many of his teammates don't. The Vols play their first game at this year's tournament in Nashville at 1 this afternoon, against Georgia. Tennessee's Robert Hubbs III, left, has SEC tournament experience, but many of his teammates don't. The Vols play their first game at this year's tournament in Nashville at 1 this afternoon, against Georgia.

By Mark Wiedmer 5 min read

photo Mark Wiedmer

It might go down as the least expected “almost” moment in University of Tennessee men’s basketball history. Emphasis on “almost,” of course.

It happened at the 1991 Southeastern Conference tournament at Vanderbilt’s venerable Memorial Gym. Entering that event with nine victories overall that season and only three wins in 18 SEC games, the Volunteers nevertheless almost shocked the world. Almost.

“All year we’d been losing because we were still trying to find each other, trying to come together as a team,” said current Chattanooga State coach and former Brainerd High School star Jay Price, who was a junior point guard that season. “Once we figured it out, we were still losing, but we were losing tough games.”

A case in point had been the regular-season finale at Alabama. Against the No. 24 Crimson Tide, inside the Plaid Palace that coach Wimp Sanderson had turned into a house of horrors for visitors, the Vols had stubbornly fallen 96-88.

“The biggest thing we’d learned,” said Price, “was just to play hard.”